Chain of Events
by zarterpwns
Summary: Percy and Nico. Two demigods who have been through trouble since day one. Two demigods who were meant to be together. Read about their lives from childhood to adulthood. (Sorry, kind of suck at summary's, story's better.)
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey guys, I'm SO sorry it's taken me so long to post a new fic! Please blame my incredibly stupid computer for spazzing out on me and taking over three weeks to repair. And coming back with NOTHING saved. No pictures, no documents, hence why I haven't been able to post my fic. Fate sucks sometimes, huh? Anyways, this is a Nicercy fic, starting off when they were little. So, I bid this A/N long enough so… Onwards my readers!**_

_**Disclaimer: No matter how hard I try, I can't make Nico appear out of thin air, nor can I own the rights to PJO. I'm not the only one, but I WILL be the one to succeed! Even if it's just the first one, I'll be happy.**_

(Percy's POV)

"Mommy, mommy, come and find me!"

A young boy, around 5 years old, hid behind a large tree, giggling excitedly. His bright green eyes shone with glee and innocence as he peeked around the trunk to see if his mother was coming this way. His hair, slightly long for his age, was pushed back from his face by a soft hand and Percy jumped and turned around, seeing the woman who looked like an older, female version of himself.

"Wow, mommy, how do you do that? You snuck up on me again! Every time you do it and every time it scares me!", he said, talking a mile a minute.

Sally just smiled in return. Leaning in close she whispered, "It's a secret" earning her a pout from her son. She just smiled and picked him up, spinning him around a few times.

"Well, sweetie, how about we head home? It's getting late," she asked her only child.

"Mommy," the child whined. "I want to keep playing."

"How about this," she replied. "If we head home now, we can stop by McDonald's for dinner."

"Yay!", the child exclaimed, jumping down and pulling his mother forward by the hand.

The child only calmed down once he was full, bathed, and tucked in. Once his mom said they didn't have time for another bedtime story, he squirmed for a minute to get comfy, then sighed and fell fast asleep. The last thought before he fell into a calm, dreamless sleep was:

"I wonder if anyone else feels the same way I do."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

(Nico's POV)

"Nico, it's time to go home!"

A soft voice called out for the three and a half years-old boy as he sat in the shadows, unmoving. His dark eyes, blacker than the night sky, peeked out from under a fringe of curly black hair that obscured his vision. His sister, Bianca, and he had been playing a game of hide-and-seek when their mother called them over to go home. With his olive skin, black hair, and dark eyes, he looked like a ghost sitting in the shadows. Whenever someone came over and threatened to give away his position to his sister, he sent them a glare that had them running for their mommy, saying a ghost was hiding in the shadows.

"I found you!", someone behind him exclaimed and he was picked up and twirled around in a circle.

He started giggling and released himself from the death grip that his sister had.

"Wow, how do you do it?!", he exclaimed, looking up at his older sister in awe.

"Well, Nico, no matter how good you are at hiding, I will always find you. Now come along, mother's waiting for us," Bianca said.

She grabbed her little brother's hand and started walking over to their mother. Once they reached her, she gave each of her children a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"Come along, children," she said in a thick Italian accent. "Your father is waiting for us back at the hotel."

She grabbed one of both children's hands, and then started leading them away from the park.

"What's for supper, mommy?", Nico asked his dark eyes wide and innocent, the look only a small child can pull off.

"Well,", Maria said. "I was thinking we should get something simple and eat in bed. How does that sound?"

"Yay!", Nico exclaimed.

"That sounds wonderful, mother," Bianca smiled, laughing at how cute her brother was.

Once they made it into their room, Nico immediately ran over to the bed and started bouncing. Bianca laughed and ran over to him, jumping on the bed and staring to tickle him. He shrieked with laughter while their Mother and Father stood behind them. Maria was grinning and laughing while Hades wore a faint smile. He pulled Maria out onto the balcony while their children played.

"Hades, dear, how long will you stay this time?", she said, holding his hands.

"Not long, my dear. I have to get back to the Underworld soon. But I was wondering what you thought about my offer," he looked her in the eyes with a pleading look on his face.

"Dearest, you know my answer. I will not allow my children to be raised in the Underworld. They need light, fresh air, friends that are living," she said.

"I only want to keep them safe," Hades replied. "Please think more on it."

"Okay, I will," Maria promised.

"Mommy, Bianca's attacking me!", Nico shrieked.

"No I'm not, silly boy! It's just tickling!"

Maria laughed and walked inside, grabbing her children and falling onto the bed with them. They all started laughing and right then someone knocked on the door. Hades answered it, getting the room service, and handing the food out. He climbed in one bed with Maria while Bianca and Nico crawled in the other. Maria began telling them an old story in Italian. Nico and Bianca curled against each other as they listened to the words spoken and about halfway through the story, Nico and Bianca fell fast asleep. Nico's last thought was:

"I wonder if anyone else feels the same way I do."

_**Okay, I know that the first chapter was kind of lame, but I promise that it'll get better next chapter. I also know that Percy was kind of cheated in this chapter, but I wanted to get into Nico's childhood more, since I had more freedom with his than Percy's. Anyways, please bear with me and see you next chapter (Hopefully!). **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**And I'm back! Hopefully this chapter's better than the last one, Peace Phoenix pointed out to me the errors I made in the Nico part of that (Thanks for that, by the way!) and I'm going to put the newly revised first chapter up soon. Sorry for that, but I guess that's what happens when you write a chapter at midnight. Anyways, I think this is long enough for an AN, so let's get on with the story!**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope, the rights still haven't been handed over to me. Probably best since I would make Nico Extreme Ruler of All Things Awesome and Amazing and everyone else would pale in comparison. XD**_

(Percy's POV)

"Sally, where are you?"

Percy frowned. Ever since Smelly Gabe moved in with them a few months ago, he barely ever had time with his mommy anymore. Sally sighed, exasperated.

"I'm getting Percy dressed for school, dear. I'll be out in a minute."

"Well hurry up!", Gabe barked at them. "Breakfast isn't going to make itself!"

Sally smiled at Percy as she pulled his shirt over his head.

"Mommy, why did you marry him?", Percy asked.

"Well sweetie," Sally replied. "He'll help us. He'll protect us."

"Protect us from what?", Percy inquired his sea-green eyes wide with confusion.

"Something that I hope you never have to face," her face looked distraught and tired for a second but then it brightened again.

"Now, let's finish getting you dressed.", she smiled and Percy grinned back.

This was how their world should be, just him and his mom. Percy pulled his jeans on and Sally helped him button and zip them. Then she helped him tie his sneakers. Sally grinned at Percy and picked him up, placing kisses all over his face. He shrieked and started giggling, squirming around in her arms as he tried to break free.

"Sally!", Gabe shouted.

She sighed again and set Percy down, grabbing his hand. She and Percy walked into the kitchen and she sat him down in the seat across from Gabe.

"So, it's your first day of kindergarten, huh kid?", Gabe asked Percy.

"Yeah!", Percy exclaimed. "I'm so happy!"

He grinned at his mother and she grinned back. She was currently at the stove making scrambled eggs and bacon for Gabe and a peanut butter sandwich for Percy.

"I'm sure you're going to have a great first day of kindergarten, sweetheart," Sally said to Percy.

He smiled in response. No matter where he was or who he was with, his mommy always made him feel better. That's why he thought she should be in a palace with a king at her side, in pretty dresses and being waited on like the ladies in all those girly movies they had to watch in preschool. He was going to make sure that his mommy was truly happy. He might only be 5, but that meant he had a longer time to be able to work on this plan. First thing to do was get rid of Gabe.

'_Mommy might have said that he was here to help us,_'Percy thought. '_But I don't trust him. He just isn't right._'

"Hey kid, I asked you a question," Gabe said.

"Huh?", Percy asked and Gabe sighed.

"I asked you if you were going to actually pay attention and stop spacing out, but you answered my question,"

Percy got a confused look on his face but smiled when his mommy came and put his breakfast in front of him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

She then went over to Gabe to drop off his breakfast and whispered "Please be a little more sensitive towards him about school. He's only five and has ADHD and dyslexia. He can't help it."

Gabe sighed and replied, "I guess I can try and be kinder to the kid." This answer received him a smile and a kiss. Sally sat down with her own breakfast. She and Percy finished before Gabe and stood up. Sally cleaned off their plates before steering him towards the door.

"Percy and I had better get going or else he'll be late for school. Don't worry about the dishes, just set them in the sink and I'll do them when I get back. I love you."

"Okay, love you too," he replied. Sally and Percy walked downstairs and waited on the side of the road for a few minutes for Sally's friend to arrive.

"Hey there, kiddo," Angeline said.

She had fire-engine red hair, bright blue eyes, and a kind smile. Sally strapped Percy into his car seat and then sat down in the passenger's seat.

"Thank you for coming to pick us up," Sally said, leaning over to give the woman a hug.

Angeline's sleeves moved up a little, revealing arms covered all over in freckles. Actually, her whole body looked like that. Angeline was practically Percy's second mother, so he had seen her a lot over the summer. Percy smiled at her.

"No problem, Sally!", she said. "You know that I'd do anything for you and the little rascal back there," she turned in her seat a little and smiled at Percy. "So, what do you say kiddo? You excited for your first day of kindergarten?"

"Yes!", Percy replied, hopping up and down in his seat. The two women chuckled at that.

"Well, then, let's get you there!", Angeline said.

She turned back around and started driving, striking up a conversation with his mom about one of their co-workers. That was how the women had met, actually. They had both started work at Sweet on America and were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. They had been inseparable ever since. Percy was glad, though, because he loved Auntie Angie. He was always over at her house when his mommy had to work late and they did all kinds of things, like play hide-and-seek and watch movies. One of his favorite things to do is get in her car and watch The Little Mermaid on the way to the beach. On the rare occasions that he was left alone, they found someone else to watch him, but he loved staying with Auntie Angie the best.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize they had pulled up to his new school. He smiled broadly and started trying to unbuckle himself, effectively getting himself stuck.

"Oh, Percy," his mom chuckled at him.

She and Angeline got out of the car, both working at getting him freed. When that was achieved, he jumped out of the car, grabbed his backpack, and gave both Angeline and Sally a hug and a kiss on the cheek. They smiled and waved, wishing him a good first day as he ran to the steps to meet his teacher.

*_That afternoon*_

Angeline and Sally were waiting outside of the school when Percy saw them. He smiled and ran over, giving both of them a hug.

"Hi sweetie, how was your first day?", Sally said as she picked him up.

"It was great!", he grinned.

"Well, that's great kiddo!", Angeline said. "Now, how about we head home? Your mom and I have a little something for you in the car."

"Yay!", Percy exclaimed, jumping into the car.

His mother smiled and buckled him in while Angie got in the drivers seat. His mom sat down and turned slightly, setting a small bag of blue candies into his lap.

"Oh, boy!", Percy shouted, digging into the bag.

Angie and Sally started laughing at his enthusiasm while Percy ignored them, happily feasting on his blue candy.

'_This,_' Percy thought. '_Is how everything should stay. Where we're happy and together._'

-The Magical and Incredibly Incredible Line of Amazingly Awesomeness. Awesome.-

(Nico's POV)

"Maria, where are you?"

Nico smiled. Ever since they had moved into this hotel a few months ago, Nico had more time to spend with all his family. Maria sighed, affectionately.

"Just one second dear, I'm finishing getting Nico dressed."

"Well, hurry, or else we will be late!", Hades replied.

Maria smiled at Nico.

"Mommy, why are you and daddy not married?", Nico asked her.

She smiled sweetly at her son.

"Well, it's complicated, dearest. If daddy and I could get married, we would have already," Maria replied coolly.

"Well, then, what's wrong?", he asked, his dark eyes, blacker than the night sky, peered at her with confusion shining brightly in them.

"Well, daddy's family would be very unhappy if they found out about certain things, let alone if I married him," she said.

"Unhappy if they found out about what?", Nico questioned her.

"About you and Bianca, for example," the Italian woman murmured, depression flitting across her features before she regained her composure. "So, let's get you dressed. You know what daddy's like when we're late to something."

Nico smiled and pulled his pants on, his mother helping him with the buttons and tying his shoes for him. His mother reached for him, trying to give him all those ticklish little kisses she always gave him, but he broke free, shrieking, and hid behind his father's legs. His sister started laughing and she pulled her younger brother into a hug.

"Good, now that we are all ready, we should go," Hades said.

He grabbed his daughters hand and started walking towards the door, grabbing their coats on the way. Maria smiled at her son and grabbed his hand, helping him with his jacket before putting her own on. They walked out of the hotel and down the street to a small restaurant where they were seated immediately.

Nico was patted on the head as he sat down and he glared at the waiter who did so, making him recoil a little at the look in his eyes. Nico may still be very young, but he was the son of Hades and the ability to give evil glares was in his blood.

'_That's why people shouldn't underestimate kids._' Nico thought.

They soon ordered and had their food brought to the table, and then headed back to the hotel. It had warmed up since the morning so they took their jackets off. Nico and Bianca ran ahead of Maria and Hades, who were walking hand in hand behind them, talking furiously about something, but Nico didn't care. He was content with how things were in this moment. They soon made it back to hotel and Maria and Hades sat on one of the couches, watching their children play. Nico smiled to himself and ran around two columns trying to confuse his sister to no avail. Their mother had just walked upstairs to get something and Nico and Bianca were still running around when they heard a huge thunder clap and Hades screaming "No!" before they were surrounded by a pitch black bubble.

There was a bright flash; bright enough to illuminate the inside of the bubble, then everything went dark again. Nico whimpered and clung to his sister, holding on for dear life and a few moments later, the bubble dissolved. Nico and Bianca stood up on shaky legs and looked around at the wreckage of what was once the beautiful hotel they were living in. But what struck them speechless was the sight of their mother's body lying limp in Hades' arms. Hades screamed in anguish and looked up to see a little girl staring at him. They talked, but Nico couldn't hear anything over the sound of his heartbeat drumming in his ears. His eyes seemed unable to move away from the sight of their mother's dead body, no matter how hard he tried to move them.

What finally broke him of his trance was the fact that someone placed a hand on his shoulder then he blacked out. The thing was, he wasn't completely knocked out, just his body. His mind still held a sliver of his consciousness and the only thought in his head was:

'_Mommy's dead._'

He was haunted for who knows how long, unable to break himself free of this trance, rid himself of the thought. That is until a soft voice said:

'_Do not fret young prince. Your time is soon to come. Your beloved awaits you in a different time and you will be joined with him soon. Just sleep, you need rest. Sleep, dear child__._'

The haunting thought vanished from his mind as if it had never been there and was replaced by the image of a black haired, green eyed boy. Nico didn't know why, but just seeing his face made him comfortable. He felt safe and secure and when he looked into those eyes, he felt like he was never going to be hurt again as long as he stood next to him. He started slipping off into sleep, but his last thought before he lost consciousness was:

'_I will find this boy if it is the last thing I do._'

_**Okay, second chapter done! I made Gabe seem like less of jerk since I had it a few months after their wedding. The first chapter was set in the summertime, probably like June or something, and the second chapter was set in September. With, of course, the respective years for each of our wonderful heroes, Percy would be 1996 and Nico would be whatever year the book says his mother died in. I don't have my copy near me so I can't check but it would probably be around 1945 or something. The book said they were raised at the end of WWII right? So this should be the right time. Please review so I can know if I should continue on with this story. Next chap it's going to be when Percy's 12 and Nico and Bianca are being taken out of the Lotus hotel. I thought the first two chapters were important because it gave you my version of each of their childhoods. Anyways, if ya'll vote for me to continue this story, I'll see you next week!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Part 3! As promised this chapter is set when Percy's 12, Nico's 8 and Bianca's 10. I don't really have that much to say in this A/N besides thank you for reading and on with the story!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Angie. She was created from the depths of my brain. OH MY GODS I'M ATHENA! Ha-ha, just kidding. Onwards my friends!**_

(Percy's POV)

Oh. My. Frikin. God. Is he serious?

"Percy! Get your worthless butt out here!"

Percy sighed. Ever since he'd turned ten his mother and Angie had gotten more hours, saying he was capable of taking care of himself. His mother still worried slightly for him since Gabe decided to "try and be nice to the kid" by taking the night off work whenever Sally was working late. She tried to get all of her hours during the day so he wouldn't have to be left alone with Gabe.

"Percy!", Gabe cried.

He walked out of his bedroom. "What Gabe? I'm trying to pack."

Gabe scowled at him. "Well I don't think that's the proper way to talk to the man who is keeping a roof over your head and sending you to this fancy-pants school," Gabe said.

Percy glared at him and crossed him arms over his chest. "Fine. What do you need Gabe? I'm almost finished packing," he said through gritted teeth.

"That's better. Your Mom just called, said she's gonna work late tonight. So that means we get some Stepfather-Stepson bonding time," Gabe smiled a smarmy smile that made Percy cringe.

"I'm sorry Gabe," Percy gritted out. "I would _love_ to have some bonding time with you, but I have to finish packing. I _am_ leaving for school tomorrow."

Gabe snorted at him. "You can't have that much to pack brat. You'll be sent back here within the first few weeks with the record you've created."

Percy clenched his fists. Gabe absolutely loved to tease Percy about being kicked out of every school he's attended. Percy decided he wasn't in the mood to talk about this, so he turned around and walked back into his room.

"Where do you think you're going brat?", Gabe shouted. "I'm not done with you!"

Percy ignored him and slammed his door shut. He walked over to his cd player and blasted Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day. It wasn't a band he normally listened to, but he did have to admit they were good. This song perfectly explained how he felt currently. He blared it as loud as it would go, and then continued packing. He soon got lost in his thoughts and went on autopilot.

His ADHD meant that his thoughts were everywhere:

'_When will my mom get home?_'

'_Hey, this is my favorite part of this song!_'

'_Oh, a pigeon! I'll name you… Timmy! Timmy the Pigeon! How you doing there Tim? No Timmy! Don't fall of the rail! Of course I would choose the pigeon that was so stupid it forgot it could fly! Timmy fell down the well! Wait, what? I meant off the rail! I think I've fallen off my rail. Mete… Metaphira… Mentally speaking._'

'_I wonder what school's gonna be like._'

Percy had finished packing and lay down on his bed, contemplating the last thought and sporadically going back to Timmy before he mentally slapped himself. He didn't know how tired he was until his eyelids became so heavy he had no choice but to fall asleep. Percy was woken up by the feeling of soft lips pressing against his forehead. He opened his eyes and saw a woman with dark hair and bright blue eyes smiling down at him.

"Mom?", he croaked. "What time is it?"

She ran her hand through his hair. "About eleven-thirty. I just came in because I wanted to see my baby for the last time before he goes leaves tomorrow."

Percy smiled at her. "Mom, it's just boarding school, not he military."

She smiled back. "That doesn't mean I don't get to miss you."

Percy leaned up and gave her a hug, which she happily returned.

"Now, I want you to go back to sleep. You have a big day ahead of you and you're obviously tired," Sally said.

"Okay, Mom. Goodnight," Percy replied.

"Goodnight sweetheart, I love you." With that, she walked out of the room.

Percy got up and changed into a pair of blue flannel pajama pants and a black t-shirt, shoving the clothes he fell asleep in earlier into a random suitcase. He then lay back down and fell back into a deep, dreamless sleep within five minutes.

(Incredibly Amazing Line of Incredibly Amazing Stuff. Incredible. Yeah. )

(Nico's POV)

Oh. My. Goodness. Is he serious?

"Bianca and Nico di Angelo, it's time for you to leave."

I just stared at him. I can't believe this is happening. Bianca looks as stunned as I do.

"We… We have to _what_?" She asked the man.

He was quite unnerving. He was tall, pale, and skinny, with dark hair that fell out from under his fedora and a long black trench coat. I think the creepiest part about him was the eyes. Pale blue eyes that seemed to calculate how much you're worth and stare into your soul. I shivered involuntarily. He ignored Bianca's question and grabbed our hands, leading us towards the door. We didn't struggle, partially out of fright and partially because it would have been stupid if we tried.

He nodded to someone who was dressed similarly to him and then walked out the door with the staff yelling at him to let go or they'll call the police. The man who he nodded to had two suitcases, which I could only assume were filled with our belongings. We were dragged to a long, black limo and shoved into the backseat, closely followed by the man and his friend. Before we were in the limo, I looked back at the place I had called my home for do long. I realized upon looking that the building looked different from when we had first arrived here.

It was taller, for one thing, and I vaguely remember the fact that I never heard any construction. The second thing I realized was that the front had an entirely different theme. It had a large, well-lit covering that was very blinding after the dim interior. The third thing was the sign: The Lotus Hotel and Casino, written in bright, glowing letters high up. This place was different from when we arrived and I cannot figure out how it happened. Bianca grabbed me and pulled me close to her, trying to give comfort to both of us once we were in the limo.

"What do you want with us?", she didn't stutter her words, but her voice shook with fear and the first man smiled at us.

"We're not here to hurt you, kids," he said. "We're here to save you. Now, sleep."

I was about to question what he meant by that when suddenly I became extremely tired and fell into my sister's lap, falling asleep upon impact.

(A few hours later)

I groaned as reality came back in the form of a blinding light. I sat up and glared at the person who was holding the offending light up to my face. I looked to my left and saw my sister, still asleep, then to my right and saw our luggage. I looked around me some more but didn't see either the man or his friend that came and got us. I became confused and looked up at the person who was still shining the light in my face.

"Please turn of the flashlight, if you don't mind. It's hurting my eyes."

The person switched off the flashlight and I sat there blinking for a few minutes to get the spots out of my vision. Once my vision cleared I looked at the person again. He was around 16 with brown hair and green eyes. I faintly remembered seeing something that reminded me of him and I tried to pull the picture back to the front of my brain.

I finally got it and compared the man in front of me to the mental image and decided that this wasn't the man from my dreams. His eyes were a darker green, his hair was a lighter brown, and the man in my dream smiled like there wasn't a care in the world, while the person standing in front of me looked like every single problem the world has faced was given to him.

"What's your name?", he asked his voice deep and smooth.

"Nico di Angelo. And you?", I said.

"James Lambert. How did you get here?"

"Well-"

"Ungh…"

I looked over to Bianca who was apparently waking up. I crawled over and shook her shoulder gently.

"Bianca, wake up."

She opened her eyes. She smiled at me before she propped herself up on her elbows and taking a look around the room, eventually ending up on James.

"Hi, I'm Bianca di Angelo. And you are?", she asked politely.

"James Lambert. I was just asking your little brother how you two ended up here when you woke up, so maybe you both can fill me in."

Bianca sat up fully and pulled me into her lap, where I curled up against her.

"Can we know where we are first?", she asked him. Her tone was starting to sound cold, as if she had a feeling that he shouldn't be trusted.

"Westover Hall. It's a military school, he said. "Now on with your story." he sat down and crossed his legs, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands.

Bianca opened her mouth to say something, and then got a puzzled look on her face. "We… We came from a hotel… We were taken out of there by two men in dark clothing then were out in a limo… now we're here," she said.

James looked at us in confusion. "That can't be how it happened. I mean, what about your parents? And how do you not remember the traveling? Where was that hotel? Who were the men that took you?", he asked us, confusion shining brightly in his eyes.

Bianca stared at him and looked as if she had suddenly aged a couple years. "The only question I can answer is the one about our parents, who are dead. The rest are still mysteries."

He looked at us with sympathy, which I immediately hated him for. Once I would like to say my parents are dead without getting sympathy or pity.

"Well, we'd better get you two to the headmaster. He'll see about getting a room for both of you." He stood up and grabbed our suitcases and started walking down the hall while we followed behind. He walked up to a door at the end of a dark hallway and knocked.

"Come in," a gruff voice said.

James opened the door and led us inside, where we were immediately blinded.

"Who are these two?", the voice said.

I was finally able to see again and looked up at the headmaster. He was sitting down but I could tell that he was tall, slim, and had salt-and-pepper hair with a scruffy beard. He looked at us with kind eyes but a stern face and I automatically knew I liked him.

"Bianca and Nico di Angelo, sir. I was doing my nightly rounds and found these two passed out in the foyer with their luggage," James said, looking at us reassuringly.

"If you could leave us for a minute please I'd like to talk to them alone," the man said.

"Of course, sir," James said before saluting and walking out.

"Sit down please, children, you must be exhausted."

We sat down in the two chairs in front of the man's desk as requested.

"Okay, first things first. My name is John Roberts, but you can call me Mr. Roberts or sir. Now, how did you get here?"

Bianca said the same thing to Mr. Roberts as she did to James, just with less pausing. He listened intently and I loved him for the fact that he didn't show us any pity when Bianca mentioned that both our parents are dead.

"Well, children, I think that you two need a place to stay, and we have the room."

We stared at him stunned. "You're… You're just going to take us in, no money or anything?" Bianca asked him wide eyed.

Mr. Roberts laughed. "Well, I would, but the thing is, yesterday I got a tuition check from an anonymous benefactor for Bianca and Nico di Angelo."

Bianca and I blushed simultaneously at the thought of him taking us in with no money.

"Now, I'm afraid that you can't stay in the same room. Nico, until we can find a place you'll be rooming with James and Bianca, you'll be rooming with Julia Brown. James will show you to the rooms."

We took that as a farewell and stood up, both of us bowing like we had seen James do which made him smile. We walked out and told James where our temporary rooms are and he led us away. We stopped at Julia's room first, where we knocked and were greeted by a girl with bright blonde curly hair, blue eyes, and that looked totally out of place in a military academy. She had a slim frame and a pretty face that would make anyone fall for her, and a soft voice that could convince you to do anything she'd say.

"Julia, this is Bianca di Angelo. She'll be rooming with you until further notice."

Julia looked at my sister and smiled warmly, which she returned. I could tell my sister liked her and that I was going to like her also. Bianca turned around, gave me a hug and a kiss goodnight, and told me to sleep well and that she'd see me in the morning. I hugged her tightly and said the same, then walked off behind James while Julia closed her door behind them. I sighed and James put his hand on my shoulder.

"You'll see her soon kid, don't worry," he said.

"Okay," I said.

He stopped in front of a door and unlocked it. He walked in and I followed. He set my suitcase down in the corner and pointed to a bed.

"That's your bed for the time being, okay?", he asked. I nodded and walked over to it. Before I got in I turned around and walked over to James, giving him a hug.

He returned it and looked at me questioningly. "What was that for?", he asked me.

I looked him straight in the eye. "For helping me and my sister. Thank you," I said before climbing into the bed and falling asleep.

_**Okay, finished with the third. Please R&R and I can handle flames now. Okay, so… see you soon! **_

_**P.S. I meant to get this chapter up sooner, but my lazy butt couldn't get inspired to write. Sorry about that. **_

_**3,**_

_**zp. **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey guys, back again! Okay, so this chappies' going to be when they first meet, but I am doing it my own way. I'm doing it this way partially because it wouldn't work and partially because I can't remember anything from that scene. Oh, well, I'm glad or else it would have been annoying to try and write this while the real meeting kept popping up in my head and trying to correct the whole thing. Yeah. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! **_

_**P.S. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed and favorited, you all make me feel so special and happy. If any of you haven't posted any stories I suggest you do because seeing nice reviews personally makes my day, if it's been a bad one. I also would love to read your stories, so send me the names if you want. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Angie, James, John, and Julia. Wow, I like names that start with J apparently.**_

(Nico's POV)

Oh my good God. That's on a loop now in my brain. All I can think about. This is because the man of my dreams just walked through the entryway of the school. Literally, this is the guy I've been dreaming about since I got here. He was tall, black haired, a lopsided goofy smile that could make anyone melt, and the eyes. Good God those _eyes._ I don't even think they can be called eyes, it's just to degrading.

The light sea-green was captivating, so gorgeous that there are no words to capture the beauty they held. Or the beauty of a man they belonged to. He was gorgeous. I knew it was the man I had been dreaming about for the last two years. He walked in with his mother (I assumed she was his mother) behind him and I saw where he got his looks from.

She was slim, with midnight black hair and startlingly blue eyes. She was about the same height as him and had the look of a comforting, caring mother that made me trust her immediately. This was big; believe me I don't give my trust easily. I was walking by since I had just finished my classes and was heading back to my room to take a well-deserved nap when I saw them. I stared for a couple of seconds and they smiled and walked over to me.

"Hello," the assumed mother said. "I'm Sally Jackson and this is my son, Percy. What's your name?"

I smiled back at her. '_Dang, this woman's good._' If you thought getting my trust was hard, try getting me to smile. I guess it's just the true motherly aura that I haven't felt in forever that made me do it.

"I'm Nico di Angelo. Can I help you?"

Percy smiled bigger at that. "I'm going to start going here and we need to know where the Headmasters office is. Could you point us in the right direction?"

Oh. My. God. His voice is… heavenly. Deep and strong, just what I imagined it to be, but hearing it in person… I mentally slapped myself.

'_Calm down, Nico!_' I looked up at him; he was a good head taller than me.

"Of course, follow me." I turned around and started walking down the hall.

He picked up his bag with one hand while his mother grabbed his other and followed me down the hall. I stopped in front of the door and knocked lightly three times. Bianca and I had learned from the Headmaster to only knock three times, four was just bad luck.

"Enter," I heard him call through the door.

I opened it and held it for Percy and Sally as they walked in.

"Hello, sir," I said as I positioned myself in front of his desk with my hands clasped in front of me. "These are Sally and Percy Jackson, their here to talk to you about Percy's enrollment."

He smiled at me. "Thank you, Nico. Please wait outside, if you don't mind," he said kindly.

"Of course, sir," I said and walked over to Percy, grabbing his bag and telling him I'd hold it until he was finished. I walked out and shut the door, setting the bag on the ground and leaning against the wall next to it. I rubbed my face with my hands and groaned inwardly.

'_Way to go, Nico,_' I thought to myself. '_You just found him and you almost blow it._'

I heard the door opening and stood up straight. Percy, Sally, and Mr. Roberts came out.

"Well, Nico, meet your new roommate, Percy," Mr. Roberts said.

I just stared at him. '_Please, please, please be kidding._' I prayed to every deity that has ever existed. Percy smiled at me and held his hand out. I was apparently on autopilot because my hand reached out and grasped his.

"Nico, I'm going to show Ms. Jackson around the school. Can you please show Perseus to your room?", Mr. Roberts said. Percy rolled his eyes when he was referred to as Perseus and I smirked.

"Of course. Follow me, _Perseus,_" I said. I smirked even more when he sent a glare my way.

I just turned around and grabbed his bag, walking off. He gave his mom a quick hug and jogged after me. He caught up with me and started asking questions.

"So… How old are you?", he asked.

"Twelve. You?", I replied.

"Fourteen," he said. "How long have you been here?"

"About two years."

He looked over at me. "You've been here since you were ten?" He questioned.

I just nodded.

"Any family?"

I shook my head at that and walked a bit faster. "Just me. My parents died when I was little and my sister was all that's left. She just died in a car accident a few months ago." I kept speeding up my pace till he was jogging to keep up. I felt unshed tears burn in my eyes and then he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Nico, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked." He said, stopping me and spinning me to face him.

I set his bag down on the floor and reached my hand up to my face, wiping my eyes with a shuddering sigh.

"It's okay," I whispered. "It's not your fault, you didn't know."

He looked at me then pulled me into a hug, resting my head on his shoulder. I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist. He had one hand rubbing up and down my back and one hand stroking my hair. He smelled of the ocean, salty and calming and I never wanted this moment to end. He gave me a squeeze and pulled away. He pushed me until I was an arms distance away so he could look in my eyes. It was all I could do not to pout from the sudden lack of contact.

"Look, let's just forget about this topic," he said.

He dropped his hands from my shoulder where they were previously resting and grinned at me.

"You know, I'd love to see my new room," he said.

I laughed and wiped my eyes again as he grabbed his bag and put his arm around my shoulder. We started walking and I was so happy that I was completely oblivious to the fact that he was hugging me as close to his body as was physically possible. We reached my room and walked inside. I looked around the room and sighed again. I had never moved out from James' room, and he would still be here if not for that stupid car accident.

The idiot had gotten drunk and high, distracting Julia who was driving. He grabbed the wheel and made a sharp turn, making the car swerve into the other lane. Julia wrestled for control but James was stronger. A semi was coming for them and it took all her strength to steer them out of the way, which led to them driving into the river below. They somehow survived the drop and he was unbuckled, so he broke the window and swam out. My sister and Julia were battered and bruised, barely conscious, and they called out to James to help them. They couldn't free themselves from their seatbelts since they were weak and James swam off without helping them.

He let my sister and Julia drown just so he could save himself. When he got back he was dripping wet and completely drunk. I asked him what happened and he started laughing and told me everything. I was so mad I was seeing red and I punched him. Right in the nose. Mr. Roberts walked out right then and called us both into his office. He questioned James and when he heard what happened he expelled him and called the cops.

They took him away and I don't know what happened after that. I think he went to jail, but even if he did that was too good for him. He deserved to rot in the bad place for the rest of eternity for what he did. I was clenching my fists and scowling, all of my muscles tensed and probably looking like I was about to kill (which is what I felt like) and Percy noticed this because he looked over at me questioningly.

"Nico, what's wrong?", he asked.

I immediately untensed and looked at him. "Nothing, just forget about it."

He gave me a look and didn't ask any further questions. We started unpacking his stuff and talked a lot and it was good. I hadn't felt this good since my sister died and I liked it. I'm glad I finally met this amazing person.

(Percy's POV)

No, no, no, NO! Oh, gods no! I can't believe it. First, I find out that I'm being sent to recruit these two demigods since all the satyrs are scattered across America to get every single one before the enemy does. I didn't really care, but I wasn't exactly thrilled. The time comes for me to go there and the first person I see makes me go brain dead.

Seriously, this boy is drop-dead beautiful. He had shaggy dark hair, smooth olive skin, full rosy lips, and eyes darker and more mysterious and dangerous than Tartarus itself. He probably came up to my shoulder and when I found out he was one of the demigods I was supposed to get I almost died. I mean, come _on_. I have to room with him? This is completely unfair, who knows what I might do?

We met with the Headmaster and he told us all about the school yada, yada, yada, then we walked out and he told Nico to take me to our room. He even called me Perseus. I rolled my eyes at that, but then Nico replied to him and turned towards me. I ignored what he told me, except for the part where he called me Perseus, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. I glared at him, and he smirked. Gods, it's unfair how beautiful he is! And when he called me Perseus I almost lost control of all brain functions.

Anyways, we were walking down the hall, me asking questions and him answering them, when I asked about his family. I had to know about his background and more about where Bianca is, because we have no information about them; we only figured which one of their parents was Godly because of how powerful they are. Nothing we did to find them worked. It's a miracle we could get them, a satyr had passed by saying he smelled two strong demigods and when he investigated found out their names were Bianca and Nico di Angelo. He would have taken them then and there had it not been for the fact that he was being chased by a monster. He alerted us to their existence and now here I am.

It broke my heart when he started crying silently and sped up his walk.

"Just me. My parents died when I was little and my sister was all that's left. She just died in a car accident a few months ago," he said and I lost it.

I grabbed him and hugged him close. "Nico, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked," I said, petting his hair and rubbing his back comfortingly.

"It's okay," he whispered. "It's not your fault, you didn't know."

I kept him close for a little bit longer before I gave him a squeeze and pushed him away till he was at arms length.

"Look, let's just forget this topic," I said, dropping my arms to my sides.

I would have loved to pull him close again and never let him go, to feel like I was protecting him. I loved the way he felt in my arms and swore to myself I would kill myself before I let him get hurt. After that it kind of blurred together. I remember saying bye to my mom, quietly promising that I would try my hardest to not destroy the school before she left. We had dinner and then went back to our room. He quickly showered and changed, jumping in bed and muttering a quiet "Night" before lying down and going to sleep.

After I was sure he was asleep I snuck outside through the window and called Annabeth. Demigods using phones normally ended very badly, but Beckendorf had made some of his friends this cool gadget that looked like a charm with each of our initials on it that made using a phone safe. Mine was dark blue with a sea-green PJ written on it in swirly letters.

"What's up?", Annabeth asked when she picked up.

"Bad, bad news," I replied. She waited silently while I told her about Bianca being dead.

"Oh no, this isn't good," she said.

"Yeah, I know. What do I do?", I asked her.

"Get Nico to trust you," she answered immediately. "Get him to trust you then tell him about his life and who his mom or dad truly is. Then high-tail it out of there and get your butt's to Half-Blood ASAP. Got it?", she said and I sighed.

"Got it," I said.

"Good, now go to sleep, it's late and you've got a lot of work to do."

I chuckled. "Annabeth, I'm not tired. Besides, it won't be that much work."

She huffed. "Okay then, hang up so _I_ can go to sleep since I've been training all day and working my butt off to teach the new campers Ancient Greek."

I smiled. "Sorry, sorry, Night Annie," I said.

"Good night," she said and hung up.

I crawled back in a laid down on my bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. My last thought was:

'_Good Gods, this is gonna take forever._'

_**Chapter four done! I know, I know, I suck for killing off Bianca so early and killing Julia, but when I write I kind of go into a mindless state and the next thing I know I've written a chapter. I also realized that I've been making Percy's POVs WAY shorter than Nico's. I think I'll start making Percy's a bit longer and Nico's a bit shorter, just too even things out. Anyways, thank you again to my reviewers and followers. And I was serious about wanting to read your stories, just send me the name and I'll check them out, I'd love to read what ya'll have written. Ugh, I'm going to go before I get anymore country than that. Hasta pronto! (Ha-ha! My Spanish class is working!)**_

_**3,**_

_**zp.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Back again! I'm posting this now because I'm going to visit some family out of town for thanksgiving and won't have time to post this. Consider this and my newly formatted and revised earlier chapters a gift. Happy early thanksgiving!**_

_**Disclaimer: As said before, I only own Angie, James, John, and Julia. **_

(Percy's POV)

Wow. This kid is good. I've been here for about 18 weeks and I've found out something: This kid is special. I've been at camp for about two summers, so I've come to know how each God's children act:

Hermes' kids are sneaky and suspicious; Hephaestus' kids are constantly moving and have something or another they're working on; Athena's kids are smart know-it-alls that correct you whenever they can; Apollo's kids a love to sing and they're always there to fix it when someone gets hurt; Demeter's kids are always growing or cooking something; Aphrodite's kids are always into makeup, always gossiping, can make you star struck from on glance, and they love, love, _love_ mirrors.

Ares' kids are temperamental and always are looking for ways to start a fight; Dionysus' kids act like they're drunk even though they've never had alcohol in they're lives; Artemis and Hera's kids are non-existent; Thalia is fiery, headstrong, and is great at being intimidating and being a leader; that leaves me: Calm, collected, reasonable, loving, care-free. Unless you make me angry. Then the idea of shoving your head through a wall sounds _very_ appealing.

The thing is, Nico fit into almost all of these categories. He always looks suspicious, is constantly fixing something broken (most likely by me but sometimes by him). He's amazingly smart and loves to correct me, is always singing and has the voice of an angel. He loves to cook and is _insanely_ beautiful, so beautiful he can make me melt and do whatever he wants with one glance, _especially_ if he's pouting. He's temperamental, fiery, headstrong, intimidating, a leader, calm, collected, reasonable, and loving. He's all of the Gods' best qualities wrapped up into the perfect package.

That's why it's been impossible for me to figure out whose son he is. I can't believe he's stumped me for so long; normally I can take one look and say which cabin they're in. At one point I thought he might be one of the people who are undetermined forever but I brushed that thought aside; he's to powerful. I'm constantly at his side now and he's opened up a little to me. It's the day before we get out for Thanksgiving break and I've convinced him to come home with me. I mean, come on, he's been here for two years and has never left for holidays. Or ever, I think.

Anyways, I'm gonna bring him to my house and we're gonna spend a few days there before I drop the bomb. I'm gonna tell him his heritage and all about the Greek gods, then we're gonna get out of that house and to Camp Half-Blood as fast as we can.

"What are you thinking about?", I hear a strangled voice say from behind me.

I turn around and see Nico straddling his suitcase, trying to close it. I started laughing and he just glared in response. I told him he should bring all the stuff he wants to keep because my mom might force him to stay. He had chuckled but obeyed me.

"Nothing, just wandered off for a sec," I replied.

I walked over to his bed and shoved him off the suitcase. He yelped and rolled off the bed onto the floor. He promptly got onto his knees so he could glare at me with all his strength, to which I just laughed.

"Let me help," I said. "I am heavier than you."

I jumped onto his suitcase and sat down. He sighed and got up, straightening his shirt on the way over. I smiled and started wiggling on the suitcase, just to make him mad, and he shoved me. I wasn't expecting it so I did an epic back flip off the suitcase and onto the floor, landing on my knees. I quickly stood up then jumped and threw my arms into a "V" in the air screaming, "And he sticks the landing!"

He smiled at me and I decided to keep going.

"The crowd goes wild!", I said with my hands cupped around my mouth.

I started running around our room and jumping over random furniture waving my arms while making that weird sound you make when you're trying to make it sound like people are cheering. You know that "Hhhhhahhahhahh" sound. He was doubled over with laughter when I ran over to him. I grabbed his hands then ran back over to my bed. He looked at me confused but I just threw him on. He landed with an "oof" and I climbed on too, and then stood up.

I pulled him up too and grabbed both of his hands. I started jumping up and down and he started laughing and jumped too. We started jumping like madmen and eventually we were laughing so hard one of us, *cough*me*cough* was laughing so hard he was jumping and fell off the bed, pulling the other down with him. We landed hard on the floor with him on top of me. We were out of breath and holding our stomachs since we had been laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. I sat up and leaned against my bed.

He joined me and we just looked at each other. I smiled at him and he kind of smiled back before he looked away and gave a small cough. He stood up and went back over to start wrestling with his suitcase again. I went back over silently and sat down on his suitcase again. He didn't shove me off again he just zipped it up. I hopped off right in front of him and he didn't move.

Our bodies were touching they were so close and I could feel each breath he gave off. We stared into each others eyes for a moment and I felt like I was falling. His eyes were deep and dark, so black and mysterious that they pulled me in immediately. We started moving our heads without even knowing we were doing it. We just looked at each others eyes, moving our heads closer, closer… until Nico realized what he was doing and started blushing. He backed up and turned away.

While he had his back to me I silently threw a tantrum, waving my arms around and throwing every curse word I knew at the ceiling. Believe me, there were a lot. He turned back around, blush still and place, and I threw my arms down, smiling sweetly.

'_No, Nico,_' I said in my head. '_I was not just cussing the ceiling out and pretending to be a bird that's on fire. That would be crazy._'

He looked anywhere but me and when his eyes landed on the clock he gasped.

"Percy, your mom's going to be here any minute!" He grabbed his suitcase and ran out the door.

I smiled. Mom was picking us up a day early so he had more time to become used to our lifestyle at home. I grabbed a duffle bag I'd hid under the bed and scrambled around the room, shoving everything Nico didn't pack into it. I put everything in there in about five minutes and zipped it up right before Nico came to the door.

"Percy, come on!", he said. "She's here, we've got to go!"

"I'm coming, just making sure I didn't leave anything I'd need."

I hefted the duffle bag over my shoulder and rolled my suitcase out into the hall. Nico locked the door and we walked to the lobby where my mom was waiting. She smiled warmly at me and I dropped both bags. I ran over and gave her a huge hug, getting enveloped in her scent. She smelled like she always does, blue candies, perfume, and lemon shampoo. I smiled and hugged her tighter. We let go and she held me at arms length so she could look at me.

"Oh goodness you've grown! You're so much taller than when you were at the beginning of the school year!" I smiled. "But some things never change. Will you ever be able to go somewhere on time, Perseus?", she asked me jokingly.

I pouted at her then scowled at Nico when he burst out laughing. I ran over to him and grabbed him around the waist. I picked him up and spun him in a circle a few time like he hates then set him back down. My mom looked at us amusedly. I just ignored it and picked my bags back up.

"So," I said. "Let's go home!", then I ran out the front doors.

O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o

(Nico's POV)

"So," Percy said. "Let's go home!", then he ran out the doors like he was being chased by a murderer.

I smiled at his mother then chased after him. He was slamming the trunk shut when I got to the car. I didn't time the stopping part right so I ended up skidding into him and throwing us both onto the ground.

"This is the third time today we've been on the floor," Percy said.

I rolled my eyes and stood up. He pushed himself off the ground and walked around the car. He opened the right back door and held it open while he bowed his head. I shoved him a little and slid into the car, buckling my seatbelt. He shut the door and opened the passenger's side, sliding in and buckling up. He shut the door and automatically turned on the radio, fiddling with the stations.

He flipped to one and stayed on it a minute to see what it was playing while his mom got in the car and started it. The radio station person came on after a short commercial and said:

"And now, for all you rockers out there, here's a Green Day block for you. Thirty minutes of uninterrupted, commercial free Green Day." Then American Idiot started playing.

"I love Green Day!", I blurted out.

Percy smiled at me and turned the radio on full blast, to which his mother turned down halfway. I smiled and started singing along, perfectly in sync with the song.

Percy smiled at me and started dancing. We went through American Idiot, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Basket Case, and Wake Me Up When September Ends before we got to Percy's house. We got out of the car and grabbed out stuff. Then Percy grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. He walked up to a door and unlocked it, showing me a small but very comforting and homey apartment. I walked inside and turned in a small circle, trying to see everything at once.

I smiled a little at Percy when I turned to face him. He smiled back.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get unpacked."

He walked into a bedroom and I followed him. It was a small room with two beds, a closet, a dresser, and a desk. He set his stuff down on one bed and I set mine down on the other. He opened a few drawers then walked over to my bed. He opened my bag and grabbed an armful of stuff, setting it down in the drawers.

"These are your drawers," he said. "And I don't want you objecting because you can live out of your suitcase. That's not how it works here so you're just gonna have to deal."

I sighed. "Fine, fine, you win!", I said, throwing my arms up.

He chuckled at me.

"Thank you. I'm glad I finally won one of these," Percy said triumphantly.

I just smirked. As if he couldn't make me into a mindless slave, doing whatever he wished. We finished unpacking then walked into the living room. Ms. Jackson was sitting on the couch talking to a very pretty red-head. Percy grinned.

"Auntie Angie!", he screamed then ran over to the woman.

"Percy!", she shrieked.

She got up and ran to him. They met in the middle and almost fell over. They hugged tight then she pushed him away until he was at arms length so she could inspect him.

"Oh, Percy, it's so good to see you! And good God, you're huge!", she said.

Percy just laughed his lighthearted and happy laugh, a sound that could make me happy no matter what.

"It's good to see you too!", he replied.

He then somehow escaped her grasp and walked over to me, steering me over to her.

"Aunt Ange, this is Nico," Percy said.

I stuck out my hand. "Nico di Angelo, ma'am, it's very nice to meet you."

She smiled and grasped my hand. "Angeline Webber, nice to meet you too."

I smiled. Everyone even remotely in contact with Percy must be the best, sweetest, coolest people on the planet.

"So," Sally said. "Since Nico's never really seen New York I was thinking we give him the full tour: Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the works. What do you say Angie, Percy?"

Percy smiled. "Sounds perfect to me," he said.

Angie gasped. "You've never seen New York?", she asked.

She then grabbed my hand again and pulled me toward the door. Percy cracked up and started following while his mom just shook her head and grabbed her and Angie's coats.

'_Oh, boy,_' I thought. '_This is gonna be a long day._'

_**Done! I beg of you, please people don't smite me! I don't know why you'd smite me, I just feel like this chapter was smite-worthy. I finally fixed the formatting on all my stories and revised the first chapter to this one. Yay! Ha-ha, see what happens when you're not lazy? Anyways, I have a proposition for you: Whoever can find the Doctor Who reference in Chapter four get's to make me write a PJO story dedicated in their honor or help me write a chapter for this, whichever one they want. If you want to find the reference you're gonna have to scan pretty well, it's not a quote or anything. Anyways, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!**_

_**3,**_

_**zp.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hello, hello, hello! I'm back and sorry-er, erm, more sorry than ever! I'm really sorry that I missed the last posting day, I had just gotten back home the day before and I kind of slept until, like, one in the afternoon and writing didn't even cross my mind. So, to try and appease you so I won't die, I'm posting two chapters this week. I checked my email while I was gone, I just didn't write. I received some very nice reviews and one extremely long one that I was extremely grateful for. Thank you, XMistressChaosX for the review, I needed that criticism and I think it extremely improved my writing. This double-update week is dedicated to you! Again, sorry for missing the last posting day. Onward, my readers! (P.S: Woo! The Hobbit, part one of three, comes out in 12 days! I'm seeing it with all my friends for my birthday! Who's as excited as me for it to come out?)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any of the affiliates. I wish I did, but so far, nothing's happened. **_

(Nico's POV)

Wow. That's the only word that comes to mind when I think of New York. Well, that and big. And also loud. Well, there's my description of New York for you, big, loud, and wow! We're riding on a ferry tour across the Hudson. Percy's been super excited to be able to show me his city so he hasn't shut up since we left. Even now he's pointing out random details about the Statue of Liberty while simultaneously leaning over the side of the boat to mutter some words at the water when he thinks I'm not listening.

For some reason, all day today my mind has been unable to focus. It's always been wandering back to random events from my past. Like right now, I'm on autopilot, walking, talking, sitting, that sort of thing, but my mind is thousands of miles away.

_*Flashback*_

"_Nico!" _

_I sighed. "Right here, Bianca!" _

_She ran over to me and smiled, giving me a hug. "So, how were your classes?", she asked._

"_Good," I replied. "Math was normal; Science was easy; English was a little harder than normal, I guess because I didn't sleep well last night and my Dyslexia kept acting up; and History was boring." _

_Recently, Mr. Roberts realized that Bianca and I had been having trouble in our classes. He studied us for a few weeks and then came to the conclusion that it might be Dyslexia and AD-HD, so he took us to a doctor to confirm his beliefs. When he was positive of what it was, he told us we had to work harder than ever and we haven't let him down since. _

"_What are you thinking of?", Bianca asked, breaking my train of thought. _

"_Nothing," I replied. "So. What are you doing after school?" _

"_Archery," she said excitedly. "Julia's been teaching me a lot about it and she says I'm getting really good." _

_I smiled. "That's awesome, Bianca."_

"_Thanks, Nico," She said, putting her arm around my shoulders. "So, what are you doing?" _

"_I'm thinking about going to take a nap for about an hour and then see if James can teach me some more sword-fighting techniques," I said. Bianca frowned._

"_I don't like that he's teaching you how to fight," she said with a frown on her face. "You're too young."_

_I pouted. "Come on, Bianca," I whined. "I'm nine! He's only teaching me self-defense moves! And the sword-fighting techniques are for when I have fencing as an elective, he wants me to be prepared." _

_Bianca sighed. "As long as you don't get hurt." _

_I smiled at her. "Thank you, Bianca," I said._

_She kissed my head and didn't say anything else. We were walking like that for a while, aimlessly walking with her arm around my shoulders. We walked in silence to wherever our feet led us. Soon we neared my room and we could feel the beat in the ground from here. I smiled and started singing along. Bianca rolled her eyes._

"_Those boys are going to ruin you," she said with a small smile. I just smirked in return and grabbed her hand. We spun around and around in a circle with me screaming the lyrics and her laughing along. The guys must have heard us because my bedroom door opened and Holiday by Green Day was playing in full volume. They saw us dancing down the hall and started cheering then came down to join us. The girl's dorms heard us, we were that loud, and came to yell at us to turn it down._

_The boys started cheering even more since they thought they had come to dance and party with us, so they grabbed their hands and started spinning them around. They started having fun and dancing too. A girl a little older than me grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Bianca while James came and started dancing with her. I started laughing and we spun and sang along to the song. I'm so glad that we ended up here._

_*End of Flashback*_

"Um, Nico? Are you okay?"

I blinked and turned slightly, startled. Percy had a hand on my arm and was peering at me in concern. I blushed and slid slightly away from him until his hand fell away.

"I'm… I'm fine, Percy. Sorry," I said. "What did you need?"

"Nothing, just telling you the tour was over," he said. "You sure you're okay? You've kind of been spacing out all day."

"I'm fine, thanks though," I said.

He smiled and I blushed more. I stood up and got in the line to get off of the boat. For some reason, ever since I'd gotten on I'd felt… uneasy. Like I didn't belong here. I shuddered involuntarily and started trying to get off the boat faster. I finally got off the boat and sighed. If this was how the day was going to continue, it was going to be a long, _long_, day.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

(Percy's POV)

Wow. That's all I can think about whenever I see the city. It's breathtaking and will never tire of it. It's just so amazing, so full of life. I also love the fact that I get to show the other breathtaking beauty in this city around it: Nico di Angelo has been practically hanging off my arm since we stepped outside and I'm not complaining. I've pointed out all of my favorite spots and Nico's smiled and laughed along with everything.

After we got off the ferry we went to lunch at one of me and my mom's favorite pizza places. It's was crowded so Nico and I sat at one table in the corner while mom and aunt Ange sat far away from us on the other side of the restaurant. Nico and I talked over the din of the other diners about pretty much everything: People back at school, the places we'd seen today, stuff along those lines. After we'd ordered mom and Angie came over and talked to us for a little bit until our food came out.

Nico grabbed a slice and, abandoning all common sense, took a huge bite out of it. His face turned bright red and tears came to his eyes.

"Hot!", he said.

I started laughing as he guzzled his Coca-Cola down. "Next time, just suck on a piece of ice for a few minutes. It'll help and you won't have to drink so much."

He nodded and I smirked. "You also could have avoided this little incident by realizing that there was steam curling off of the pizza and that it kind of just came out of a blazing hot pizza oven," I said, barely getting the last word out before I started laughing at his expression. He's just so darn cute when he's angry! Okay, so, maybe he's also truly terrifying when he's actually mad, but I can tell he's never seriously mad at me. I've seen him when he's really mad at a person and they are sent to the counselor for an undetermined amount of time.

"Shut up," he said and scowled some more. I calmed down a little and put up my hands.

"Okay, you win, I'm sorry," I said and it was his turn to smirk.

"You should be." He grabbed his slice and blew on it for a minute before he tentatively bit into it. He realized it wasn't to hot and became eager, biting into it faster and faster. I smiled.

"Hungry?", I asked him.

"This is amazing!", he replied. I smiled and nodded. I grabbed a piece and covered it with parmesan and red pepper flakes before I took a bite out of it. He looked at me in awe when I did that and I just smiled and swallowed.

"I've been doing this for years, it doesn't burn my mouth anymore," I stated and bit into it more. He rolled his eyes and ate some more. We were silent for the rest of the time and I drifted off into my thoughts. My mind kept going back to today and how my mom and auntie Ange kept acting. They went with us but they kept their distance from us, always staying away and letting us do our own thing. It's almost as if…

"No," I whispered out loud.

"What?", Nico asked me.

"Nothing, nothing, just… I'll be right back," I said and stood up, walking over to my moms table.

"Mom!", I whispered. "Are you trying to turn this into a chaperoned date for me and Nico?!"

"No, of course not!" , she said and I gave her a look. "Okay fine, maybe slightly. I only did it because I knew you liked him and you wouldn't do anything about it!"

I sighed. "Mom, please, just leave us alone. If he likes me back I'll ask him out for real. For now, just leave it."

"Okay, I promise," she said and I nodded, walking back towards my table. Nico gave me a questioning look and I ignored it, grabbing another slice to eat. Once we'd finished we paid and grabbed our coats.

"Well, kiddos," Angie said. "How about we head home? I would suggest ice cream, but with the weather…"

"And what happened last time…" I finished for her, smirking. She just smiled and bumped her shoulder against mine.

"What happened last time?", Nico asked.

I looked at him and smiled. "The last time it was just Aunt Angie and me we went out to get something to eat. When we got out of the restaurant the sun had set and we decided that we wanted something for dessert. We stupidly decided that ice cream sounded good and ended up getting our tongues frozen to the ice cream. We had to go home and melt it."

Nico started cracking up and we all started laughing too. "And… and I'm the one with no common sense," he said and started laughing again. I scoffed and put on a look of fake hurt before he calmed down and smirked at me. I just rolled my eyes and shoved him, which led him to lose his balance and fall onto the ground.

"We can never stop falling on each other, can we?" I said and he shoved me off.

"We would if you quit shoving me," he retorted.

I pouted. "But it's fun," I whined. He rolled his eyes.

"Come on, I think we need to get home before we have another incident," mom said and we all agreed.

We started walking home in silence and I got lost in my thoughts again. I smiled as I realized that we'd be returning to camp soon but frowned when I realized that I'd have to tell him soon. About everything.

'_Oh, boy,_' I thought to myself. '_This'll be fun!_'

_**Done! Again, thank you for all the love and I'm sorry for missing the last posting day. Don't kill me, I'll get the second part of this installment out soon, I promise. I'll see you soon!**_

_**3,**_

_**zp. **_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Okay, I know, I suck. I totally meant to get this out first on Sunday with my other post but I finished that chapter at like 9 at night and was dead tired so I wimped out. Then I meant to get it out WAY earlier and, well, I'm a procrastinator. This, also, was the week I insanely decided that sleep was more important than FF. What was I thinking? Anyway, here is the chapter I promised, and then my posting schedule will get back to normal. Thanks for reading!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fic except the plot and my OC's**_

(Percy's POV)

**When will this nightmare ever end?**

We're sitting here, on my couch, watching Raising Helen (Aunt Angie's favorite movie) and my mom is acting like we're on a date. All the lights are out, the snacks are right in front of us, Nico and I are huddled on the couch under a blanket cause it's _freezing_ in here, and she and Angie are on the other side of the room, obviously talking about us. I sighed and moved around a little, trying to get settled. Nico was falling asleep and his head kept falling onto my chest, which I thought was cute. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

"You can go to sleep if you want to," I said to him.

"The movie's not over," he replied. "And we're not in bed."

I smiled. "It doesn't matter, we obviously wore you out. The movie's almost finished, so we can stay here until then. You can fall asleep if you want to or you can stay awake, it's your choice. I…", and my voice trailed off when I felt a weight fall against my chest. I looked down and saw Nico's head on my chest, snoring slightly, with an arm laid lazily across my stomach. I stared at him for a few minutes and played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"I think it's about time you two went to bed." I looked up and saw my mom smiling at us. "The movie ended five minutes ago. You're obviously tired and Nico shouldn't sleep like that," she said.

I smiled up at her. "Okay," I said. "I'll go to bed, I promise."

"Well, come say bye to me, I'm about to leave," Angie called out to me. I looked up and saw her standing in the door frame.

"One second," I said, and then adjusted Nico until he was lying across my lap. I hoisted myself off the couch and held Nico bridal-style, walking over to Aunt Ange. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and said she'd see me tomorrow then she pushed Nico's hair back from his forehead and kissed it. He sighed in his sleep and cuddled closer to me and she smiled.

"Good night, you two," she said.

"Let me walk you down," my mom said. She gave me a kiss on the cheek as she passed and told me to sleep well, then grabbed Angie's arm and pulled her out the door. I walked down the hall and into my bedroom, walking through the open door and shutting it with my foot. I walked over to Nico's bed and tried to lay him down, with no avail. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I set him on the bed and wouldn't let go. I sighed and lied down next to him, covering us both with the comforter.

'_I just hope he doesn't kill me for this in the morning,_' I thought.

*_Percy's dream_*

"_Percy, please, run!", Sally screamed_

"_No, mom, I'm not leaving without you!", I screamed back_

"_Percy!", she shouted as she disappeared in a puff of dust._

"_MOM!", I screamed._

_All I could see was red and I had this feeling of uncontrollable rage bubbling inside of me, growing bigger and bigger each second. I shouted at the top of my lungs and attacked the beast that took away my mother. He roared and charged me, while I just sidestepped. I jumped on his back and held on for dear life as he bucked. One of his horns broke so I fell off, rolling on the ground and clutching it like it was my last lifeline. He charged me again so I sprang up and stabbed him in the side. He bellowed in rage and tried to claw at me, but I just stepped away and he dissolved in front of my eyes._

_I stared at the ground for a few seconds, my heart racing and panting like crazy, before sheer exhaustion took over and I collapsed. _

"_Percy!" was the last thing I heard before I blacked out._

-_Later on_-

_I groaned and clutched my head. All I could see right now was the back of my eyelids lit up brightly. I opened my eyes and saw a blinding white light right in front of me, so I yelped and threw an arm across my eyes._

"_Dear God, I beg of you, turn it off," I groaned. I heard a snapping sound and slowly lowered my arm, satisfied when I wasn't blinded. I sat up very slowly and looked around. I saw a white room, lots of beds with crisp, white sheets, tons of different medical things, and a handsome blonde standing above me._

"_Welcome to camp, Perseus," he purred to me. "I'm Luke Castellan."_

_I looked at him and said, "Call me Percy; I think Perseus is too formal."_

_He smirked. "But it's just so fitting, a perfect name for a perfect boy," he said._

_I swung my legs over and stood up, almost falling over the second my legs straightened out. Luke stepped over and caught me in his arms. I flipped over, since I landed facing the floor in his arms, and faced him. He smirked even more and I stood up, blushing. _

"_Thank you," I muttered._

"_No problem," he replied. "So, let's go outside and I'll show you around camp." He wrapped an arm around my waist and I did the same as I hobbled out on shaky legs. _

"_Wow," I muttered when we walked out the front door. _

"_It has that effect," Luke chuckled next to me. I was so awestruck by my surroundings that I barely even heard him. The sky was a bright blue; there were a lot of hills ringing a bright green field, a strawberry patch, a cabin area, a thick forest, and a bright blue-green lake that sparkled in the sun. I smiled to myself and started walking again. _

"_This place is beautiful," I said._

_Luke laughed. "You haven't even seen the best parts yet," he said. He walked me through the camp, showing me the arena, the rock-climbing wall, the forges, the arts-and-crafts cabin, and all sorts of things. After a few hours we finally ended up on the beach. We walked a little bit down until we came to a shaded, enclosed section that no one was at. He plopped down and patted the sand next to him and I sat._

"_What is this place?", I asked, dumfounded._

"_This," he said. "Is the only safe place left for you." I looked at him confused and he sighed. "I'm guessing no one told you about your heritage yet?"_

_I shrugged. "My mom and Grover were telling me about it and I got the most important part, but I'm still trying to figure out why all this is happening to me," I said. I ran a hand through my hair and gripped it until I felt a calloused hand run over it._

"_Don't do that, pulling out you hair won't help your problem as much as talking will," he said softly. I released my hair and he slipped his hand in mine, dropping our intertwined hands down next to us in the sand._

_I sighed. "My mom's dead," I whispered and felt everything crash down on me. Being ripped out of my world, separated from my mother, I let it all out. I sobbed and sobbed, dropping my head onto my knees. Luke wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into his lap, pulling my head onto his shoulder. I cried all my emotions out while Luke whispered calming words into my ears. I finally calmed down and Luke wiped my cheeks off._

"_Your mom's not dead, Perseus," he whispered into my ear. _

_I just stared at him. "You weren't there," I mumbled. "You didn't see it."_

"_She isn't dead," he insisted. "I probably know almost as much as the Athena cabin about our world, so I know what happened. She was taken captive."_

_I stared at him. "By… by who?", I asked him. "Who would want my mother?"_

"_It depends," he said. _

"_On what?", I pressed him._

"_On your father," he stated. "The Gods are always feuding with each other, one might be fighting with your father and have taken your mother captive as revenge, as bait. The God would know that you would go on a quest to save your mother and your father would have to watch another one of his children fail and humiliate him. That's if it's one of the compassionate ones."_

_I stared at him. "You've got to be kidding me," I said._

_He stared back. "Nope; welcome to your new life, Perseus."_

*_end of dream*_

I sighed in my sleep and subconsciously pulled Nico closer to me. If this was how it was going to go with Nico, I was in trouble.

(Nico's POV)

**I woke up with a blinding light against my eyes.**

I opened my eyes and blinked them until I could see again. Once I could, I saw Percy's room. I sighed and turned around, closing my eyes and snuggling against the warm body. Wait, what? My eyes flew open and I saw Percy's serene, sleeping face. I kind of flipped out and tried to jump off the bed but the arms around my waist hindered me and I crashed back down, effectively waking Percy.

"Trying to escape, huh?", he said, smirking at me sleepily.

I blushed deeply. "Well, you scared me, that's all," I replied.

He smiled at me and sat up, releasing my waist. I sighed at the loss of body contact and sat up too. Percy sniffed the air hungrily and a huge grin spread across his face.

"Come on," he shrieked. "My mom's making pancakes!" He leaped off the bed and through the door. I laughed at the sheer cuteness of the action and slowly raised myself off the bed. I realized I was still wearing the clothes I had on yesterday so I gathered some clothes and changed into them. I stretched a little then walked out the door and into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Nico, did you sleep well?"

I looked up from the floor and saw Percy's mom standing at the stove, wearing a dark green shirt, blue jeans, black flats, and a knowing smirk. I ignored the look and sat down next to a blushing Percy.

"Yes ma'am, I did. Thank you again for letting me stay here over the break," I said formally.

"Oh, Nico," she said as she walked over to the table with a plate of pancakes. "You don't have to be so formal! You're always welcome in this house an all I ask in return is that you only come here if you want too, not if you feel as if you're obligated too."

I smiled, my throat closing up on me. "Thank you," I said quietly. She pushed the hair away from my forehead and kissed it. It was such a motherly action that it made me start to cry silently since I hadn't felt something like that in so long.

"Nico," Percy said. "What's wrong?"

I sobbed a little. "Nothing, it's just… I haven't felt like this in so long," I said, crying harder with every word.

"Like what, sweetie?", Sally asked me.

"Like, like I'm loved," I sobbed out. "Like I finally belong… Like I ha-have a-" and I started crying so hard that I could barely breath let alone speak. Percy pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist, rocking me back and forth. I sobbed and sobbed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. He whispered calming words into my ear while his mom rubbed my back.

"Calm down, Nico," Percy whispered. "It'll be okay. You'll always have us. We'll always be your family."

"Th…Thank..you, Perce," I stammered.

"No need to thank me, it's how I feel," he replied.

I sat there on his lap, crying, and he just comforted me. He suddenly stood up and held me in arms bridal-style. I still clung to his neck with my face hidden from view because I was embarrassed from the fact that I was acting so childish. He walked into his room, shut the door, and slowly lowered himself onto his bed.

"You never truly cried for them, did you?", he asked me.

"For who?", I whispered into his neck.

"For Bianca, for your mother," he stated. "You never cried for their deaths, did you?"

"No," I said. "I never cried for my parents because I was trying to show Bianca that I was strong and I never cried for her because I was never left alone long enough too." That's what broke me. I felt the floodgates open again and started sobbing. I never have cried this much, but all the talk about my parents and Bianca and family made me so upset. I felt so many emotions I didn't want to, all the emotions I'd harbored for so long came forward. I felt un-loved, un-wanted, like a failure. I felt… Broken. Raw and open for the attack. I'd hidden these feelings for so long that they just grew and the sheer weight they carried gave me physical pain.

I moaned and whimpered and sobbed out my feelings, clutching onto Percy for dear life. He hugged me close and rocked me back and forth.

"Shh, shh, Nico, everything will be all right. We'll get you somewhere safe, your life will be so much better. I promise everything will be okay. I absolutely, positively promise this will get better," he whispered.

I lifted my head, slightly calmed by his words. "What… what do you mean by 'somewhere safe'?", I asked. "And why did you say only my mom and Bianca died?"

"Nico," he started, chewing on his bottom lip. "What do you know about Greek Mythology?"

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_**Wow, I suck. I just learned I should never write when I'm emotional, it makes me evil and it reflects in my writing. You can drastically tell (or, at least, I can) that I wrote these POV's on two different days, since Percy's is happy (and slightly sexy in the dream, TOTALLY unplanned BTW) and Nico's is really depressing. And the cliffhanger, I'm sorry for that. Be glad I'm a procrastinator and that I'm updating tomorrow! See you soon!**_

_**3,**_

_**zp. **_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey guys! Okay, first off, I have to thank you all. I mean, I have 21 followers and 11 favorites on this story! Thank you all so much! It makes me feel all happy and special and makes me hyper! I don't know why but it does. I get hyper easily, apparently. Anyways, thank you all and here's the new chapter! Finally, the long awaited chapter, when Nico finds out about his heritage! Onwards, my minions- I mean readers!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING I SAY! Except my OC's. But other than that, NOTHING!**_

**O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o **

(Percy's POV)

"**Nico," I started, chewing on my bottom lip nervously. "What do you know about Greek Mythology?"**

He sniffled and looked up at me. Oh Gods, he's breaking my heart right now. His perfect olive skin was blotchy and red, hair messed up and sticking everywhere, eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot, nose running, lips trembling, tear stains running down his face. I just can't take it when he's upset in anyway, shape, or form.

"What are you talking about?" he asked me curiously, snuggling a little closer.

I sighed and wiped his cheeks off. "You know," I said. "Greek Mythology. Gods and Goddess'. Evil monsters."

"I know that," he said. "I just want to know why you're asking."

"Well," I said. "This is a little complicated."

"Try me," he said.

I heaved a huge sigh. "EverythinginGreekMythologyis real," I blurted out as fast as I could.

Nico stared at me. "In a language I can understand, please?" he asked.

I chewed on my lip again. "Everything in Greek Mythology," I said. "Is real." I winced once I finished and turned my head away. I felt him shift a little but he didn't speak.

I turned to look at him again. "Nico, say something, please?" I begged.

He stared at me. "What are you smoking?" he asked me.

I smiled a little at his response. "I'm not smoking anything, Greek Mythology is real. Want me to prove it?" I said.

He climbed off me. "What I want to know," he stated coldly, which made me wince. "Is why you think that Mythology is real and how the subject of my dead family brought it up." His voice broke when he said dead family and my heart ached.

"Not all of your family is dead," I said. "Your father is still alive, we think."

"You weren't there!" he screamed at me. "You didn't see them die!"

"Nico," I said calmly. "Your father-"

"Never talk about my father!" he shrieked.

"Nico, please listen," I pleaded him.

"No, _you_ listen," he said, staring at me with the most evil glare he could muster. "YOU haven't lost both your parents. YOU haven't lost your sister, the only person left in your world that loved you and cared about you. YOU haven't lost ANYTHING or ANYONE who cared about you so stop talking like you know how I feel! You know I hate it when people pity me and sympathize with me! I'm sick and tired of everyone treating me like I'm a glass statue, teetering on the edge of a cliff! No one will EVER know how I feel so everyone needs to STOP. ACTING. LIKE. THEY. _DO!" _

I sat there, stunned, as he stood in front of me, tears streaming down his face, cheeks bright red, shoulders tensed, fists clenched, chest heaving. I looked down, feeling awful, and noticed something around Nico's feet: shadows. They pooled around him, writhing and twisting. His shadow lengthened and shortened. I stood up, startled, and looked around my room; it was happening everywhere. My room was nearly completely dark, the sky was clouded; every shadow I could see moved and twisted as if it was alive.

"Oh my Gods," I said.

"What?" he said.

"I know who your parent is," I whispered, fright taking a cold grip around my heart.

"I know who my parents are, idiot, you don't need to tell me that," he spat at me.

"Nico, do you remember how your parents died?" I asked him slowly.

"Of course I remember how they died!" he said. "They-" he got a confused look. "They, they were…"

"You don't remember," I said.

He looked at me, fearfully. "What happened?" he asked me timidly. "What's going on?"

"Nico, you don't remember because your memories were taken away," I said slowly. "I can't tell you what happened to your mother, except that she's in the Underworld."

He looked at me, brokenly. "Percy," he whispered and I immediately understood. I stood up and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around him. He slowly wrapped his slim arms around my waist and I explained.

"Nico," I whispered into his hair. "Your father is still alive. I know who he his, but I have to ask you one thing: what was his name?"

Nico buried his face into my chest. "Hades," he said. "I never learned his last name, Bianca and I took our mother's last name."

"I knew it," I whispered.

"Knew what?" he asked me.

I pushed him away to arms length. "Nico," I said. "Right now we have to get you out of here." He looked up at me and his lips trembled as if he was about to cry. "I'm not leaving you!" I said quickly. "I'm not leaving you. We just need to get out of here _right now_ or we're in serious trouble." I let go of his arms and grabbed bags, starting to stuff our belongings in them.

"Percy, what are you talking about?" he asked me.

"We need to get to camp. Now, come on! Pack before-"

"ROOOOAAAARRRR!" I froze mid-sentence.

I turned around slowly and saw the Minotaur. "Well, well, if it isn't my dear friend, Bull-"

"Percy, what is that?" Nico shrieked at me.

"The Minotaur," I replied. "Half-man, half-bull monster. If you needed any proof that Greek Mythology was real, here it is!" I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and clicked it into sword form.

"Try and get as much of your stuff as you can into some bags, I'll take care of him," I said.

"But-" Nico protested.

"Hurry!" I screamed. I ran at the Minotaur and slashed at him, having him dodge so I could get through the doorway.

"Hey, bull-face!" I shouted, directing his attention to me. "Over here! I got some nice, juicy demigod meat for you!"

"ROAR!" he replied. He charged me and I sidestepped into the kitchen. I looked at the table and saw a note. Skimming over it I saw that my mom wrote it, saying that she went to the grocery store down the street. The Minotaur charged me again so I slid across the table and charged him back. I slid to the ground, stabbing him in the leg with Riptide and using the added force to push me out from under him.

"RAWR!" the Minotaur shouted before exploding into golden dust. I huffed and stood up, getting Riptide and turning it back into pen-form. I turned around to run back to my room and saw Nico standing there with his mouth wide-open and gawking at me.

"Whoa," he said.

"No time," I replied, huffing. "Did you pack everything?" He nodded and lifted the two bags by his side. "Good, give me one." I walked over and took the heaviest bag, throwing it over my shoulder. "Now come on!" I said.

"Where are we going?" he asked, following me as we walked out the door. I locked it and headed towards the stairs.

"We have to go get my mom," I said. "We can't get to Half-Blood without her driving us."

"Okay," Nico said. "I'll get you explain what Half-Blood is later, but where's your mom?"

"A store down the street," I replied. I burst out the door into the lobby and bolted out of there as fast as I could, Nico on my heels. We ran down the street and about ten stores later I saw the grocery store. I bolted into the store and ran around like a madman.

"Percy!" my mom cried when she saw us and ran over. "What happened?"

I dropped the bag and put my hands on my thighs. "Minotaur… Attack… Half-Blood," I wheezed and she immediately understood.

"In the car, now!" she said. She picked up the bag I dropped and started running. I groaned and straightened out. Nico grabbed hold of my arm and looked at me.

"What's happening?" he asked me, worriedly.

I covered his hand with mine. "I'll explain everything on the way there," I said.

"Okay," he said and sighed. "I trust you, Percy. With my life." I felt strength surge back into my being at those words and I smiled.

"And I trust you with mine, Nico, now come on!" I said and bolted for the car.

(Nico's POV)

"**And I trust you with mine, Nico, now come one!" he said and bolted for the car.**

I followed hot on his heels and tried to make sense of it all. This morning just been an emotional rollercoaster, hasn't it? First, I'm crying from the feeling of so much love, then sadness, then I'm happy, then I'm furious, then I'm scared out of my wits, now I'm… I don't know really. I guess I feel all of those emotions right now, just with no crying.

"Okay, Nico," Percy said and I snapped back to reality. "I'll explain more when we get there, but for now I'll tell you about Half-Blood. Camp Half-Blood is for people like us, our only safe haven."

"What do you mean by 'people like us'?" I asked him.

"Demigods," he said. "Half-human, half-god. Like, see, my mom is my real mom, but my dad's Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea, Earth Shaker, Storm Bringer. Your mother was your real mother and your father is Hades, Greek God of Death and Riches. "

I stared at him. "Wait, so you're…"

He smiled at me. "The son of the sea."

Sally grinned. "He's as wild and reckless as the sea, too."

"Mom," he groaned.

"Well, it's true!" she said. "You're just like your father, dear, your calm and carefree, like the ocean on a good day yet reckless and dangerous, like the ocean during a hurricane."

Percy blushed and I smiled. "Anyways," Percy said and I laughed at his desperate plea to change the subject. "Since you're the son of Hades, you're the son of death."

I frowned at the title. "Well, that's a jolly title, now isn't it?"

Percy laughed at that. "I don't know fully what you're able to do yet, so far I only know that you an control the shadows, which is how I figured out who your dad is."

I looked at him. "How did you figure that out through shadows?" I asked him, perplexed.

"Shadows are apart of his domain," he explained. "The Underworld is his domain; it's dark and gloomy and filled with shadows. Besides, shadows are what most people are afraid of and that's what he thrives on: people's fear."

"What can you do?" I asked him.

"Well, I can breathe underwater, survive at tremendous depths, see perfectly clear, control water, talk to sea animals, horses-"

"Wait, wait, wait," I said. "Why horses?"

"My father and Athena had a fight over Athens when it was being named so they each created a gift to give to the people there: Athena gave the olive tree and my dad gave them horses, which he created out of sea foam," he explained.

"Percy," his mom said impressed. "You remembered that?"

He blushed. "I've been hanging out with Annabeth to much," he said.

"Well, I'm glad that she's a positive influence on you," she said, smiling.

"Mom, she's a daughter of Athena, not of Hermes," Percy said.

"No matter," she stated. "We're here." She parked the car and Percy got out.

"Come on," he said, opening the door for me. "It's time to see your new home.'

_**Yay, I got it out! I feel like I may have put a lot into this chapter, so please tell me if you think I did. I love getting feedback from you and every review about my writing only makes the story better! I'm not trying to sound cocky or anything, I'm just trying to make it so that it meets all of your standards. Okay, thanks again for my Followers and Favoriters and I'll see you all next week!**_

_**3,**_

_**zp.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**I'm so sorry! I beg of you, kill finals, not me! Blame the awful amount of studying I had to accomplish! I tried to write this whenever was possible and I finally got this out! Be glad I didn't wait till January, which might possibly be the next time I get another chapter out. The school's taking my laptop up, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry for leaving you on the cliffhanger then completely ignoring writing. So, so sorry! I'll write a long chapter and try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Onwards!**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Angie, James, John, and Julia. **_

**(Percy's POV)**

"**Come on," I said. "It's time to see your new home."**

I held the door open as he stepped outside cautiously, taking in his surroundings. I went to the trunk and opened it, grabbing the bags and throwing them to the ground. I then went to the driver's door and gave my mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek through the window.

"Love you," I said.

"I love you too, Percy, be careful," she lowered her voice. "And take extra care of Nico."

"I will," I promised.

Nico and I waved goodbye for as long as we could see her and even after we couldn't.

"Perrrrrrrcy!" I looked to the source of the voice and grinned, knowing immediately who it was.

"G-man!" I walked over and we high-fived then did one of those one-armed hugs.

"How's it been?" he asked me.

"Great," I replied. "I didn't get kicked out of this one!"

"Dude, that's like the first time!"

"I know!" We high-fived again and Nico coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry," I said. "Grover this is Nico di Angelo, Neeks this is Grover Underwood."

"Nice to meet you," Nico said, extending his hand

"Hey," Grover said, using the outstretched hand to pull him into a hug. I laughed at the look on Nico's face as he did this and got a glare in return.

"Percy, you're safe!" I looked to the top of Half-Blood hill and saw Annabeth running down.

"Yep, we were only attacked once," I said as she stopped next to us. I tried to give her a hug but she just stepped away.

"You were attacked? When? Where? By what?" she said.

"Whoa, whoa, calm your daughter-of-Athena-brain for a second and to answer your questions yes, today, at my house, and the Minotaur. Happy?" I replied.

"How did-" she pointed her finger towards Nico.

I grinned and slung my arm over Nico's shoulders and he stiffened up. "This kid took it amazingly. He did what I told him and got all his stuff together, and we high-tailed it out of there."

Nico blushed. "I was just calm on the outside. On the inside, though, I was screaming bloody murder. I gave myself a headache," he said calmly. We all started laughing and Nico blushed even more.

"Come on, guys," Annabeth said. "We'd better get inside the camp before we get attacked."

"Fine, Bird-Brain," I said. Annabeth scowled and punched me in the arm, while Grover and Nico laughed. I pouted at her.

"Come on, Annie, can I not say anything to you without getting a violent reaction?" I asked.

"If it's not worthy of one, then yes," she said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes at her then hefted the bag.

"Come on, Neeks," I said. He glared at me but hefted the bag over his shoulder.

**(Nico's POV)**

"**Come on, Neeks," he said.**

I glared at him but followed his example and hefted the bag over my shoulder. God I hate being called Neeks. Well, there's an exception, I guess (but I can't make it known): Percy saying it. It makes me feel happy and then I feel confused. I'd never felt like that because of something so trivial as a nickname.

"Don't…" I said, my voice trailing off as we crested the hill.

"Don't what? Don't stop believing?" Percy said, smirking.

I groaned. "Don't be annoying," I replied. He pouted.

"Whatever," he said. I smiled.

"Just show me around," I said, shaking my head.

"Fine, fine," he replied.

"I'd love to walk around camp with you, but I promised Juniper I'd spend the afternoon with her," Grover said.

"That's cool, man," Percy said. "Say hi for me, okay? And that I expect to see her tonight."

Grover smiled. "Will do," he said. He ran down the hill after giving Percy another half-hug and disappeared into the woods.

"So," Annabeth said, clapping her hands. "How should we do this?"

"Can we drop off the bags first?" I pleaded.

"I second that," Percy said. "But we should talk to Chiron first to see where he should bunk."

"Why would we do that, won't he just stay in the Hermes cabin?" She looked at me quizzically.

"Um, Annabeth," Percy said, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's not undetermined. And he doesn't have a cabin."

Recognition showed instantly on her face. "Has he been officially claimed?"

"No," he said. "But before we were attacked I was telling him about his heritage and he got… agitated."

"Nice word," Annabeth said and earned herself a glare from Percy. "Sorry, got distracted. Now, what happened when he got mad?"

"Well," he said. "He was controlling the shadows and the lights dimmed, Like, my room light, the hall light, the light from the window, everything was dimmed."

"Well, I think we can constitute that as a claiming," she said, wringing her hands.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Claiming? What's that?"

"Well, it's when your Godly parent sends some sort of sign to show that you're their son or daughter," Annabeth explained.

"Oh," I said. "So, what's this about seeing where I'm going to stay? Aren't they just going to stick me wherever there's room?"

"See, kiddo, it doesn't work like that here," Percy said, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

"Let's head to the Big House while we try to explain some things to you," Annabeth said, resting her arm across my shoulders too. I sighed and followed where they led me.

(_Later on_)

Okay. Just when I thought that this couldn't get any crazier, it did. We walked onto the porch of the Big House (rightfully named, by the way) and met a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. The crazy thing was when he got out of the wheelchair and became half-horse, half-human. Then, he, Percy, and Annabeth talk some and sit me in a chair, telling me to wait while they talk. And I've been waiting here for almost an hour.

"Thank you, Chiron," I heard Percy say. I sat up straight and looked at the door. Percy and Annabeth came out and held the door open for Chiron as he ducked so he wouldn't hit his head.

"Don't thank me, Percy, just get him moved in," Chiron replied with a fond smile.

"Okay," Percy said. He looked at me and gave me that goofy grin that made me smile in return.

"What happened?" I asked as he grabbed the bags and started walking away.

"To our cabin," he called over his shoulder.

I rushed to keep up with him since he was practically sprinting across the field. "Where's that?" I asked.

"Here," he said and stopped suddenly. I looked from him to the building and saw something I didn't expect: a low-lying building, looking kind of like a safe-house, with the weirdest concrete I'd ever seen. Wait, not only concrete… Seashells! The building was embedded with seashells. I looked at it in awe and ran my hand across the surface.

"Whoa," I breathed.

He smiled. "You haven't even seen the inside." He walked inside and I followed.

"What is this place?" I asked as I stepped inside.

"The Poseidon cabin," he said. "Our cabin."

I blushed slightly at that and turned my back to him so he wouldn't see it. I walked around the room, looking at everything, and came to two beds: the first with bright blue sheets and a striped blue-green comforter, the second one bare.

"Here," I heard behind me and was hit in the back by something, effectively pushing me onto the bed. I groaned and rolled over, seeing that it was pitch black sheets and a comforter with a black, dark gray. Silver swirling patterns and skulls at the bottom. I smiled.

"Which one?" I asked him.

He pointed towards the bare on next to his (I assumed it was his). "That one." He then turned away and started putting some clothed away.

"Cool," I said and started putting the sheets on. Once I got the bed made I took off my shoes and climbed in, rolling around and around. "Mmmm…" I sighed. Percy turned towards me and smiled, starting to come forward.

"Comfy?" he asked and I just nodded a reply. He smiled. "You look like a cat." He ruffled my hair and I pouted.

"Meow. Back the heck off from my hair," I grumbled.

He smirked. "Ouch, kitteh's got some claws."

I scowled and rolled over, wrapping the covers closer around me.

"You cold?" he asked and I nodded.

"Waiting for them to heat up," I said, the words being muffled from the comforter. I felt a rush of cold air along my back as the comforter was lifted, then the bed dipped down. The blanket was settled and I felt a strong, solid warmth against my back that made me instantly tense up.

"Better?" Percy breathed against my ear, his arms wrapping around my waist. The ability of speech has completely left me so I could only nod in reply. "Good," he whispered. My brain slowly became fuzzy and I snuggled against him. He chuckled and started rubbing circles into my stomach and it made me even drowsier.

"Thank you," I murmured.

"For what?" he asked.

"For everything," I replied. "For saving me, from myself, from that school, from the monster, from everything. I don't think I can thank you enough."

"I don't want you to," he whispered. "I'm doing this because I want to protect you."

I smiled and turned around. "Can I at least try and thank you enough?" I pleaded.

He nodded. "If it makes you happy," he said. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, going closer and closer to his face until I felt his soft lips press against mine. I sighed and snuggled closer to his body, tightening my arms a little. Percy laid there shocked for a minute before he realized what was happening and tightened his grip around my waist. I smiled against his lips and felt weightless. I was surrounded by his everything: his warmth, his scent, his love, it was all there. The need for air became too great and we finally parted.

I cleared my throat. "How was that?" I asked.

"That was perfect," he replied, his voice slightly raspy. I smiled and pecked him on the lips then laid my head on his chest. Our body's melded together and I could hear his heartbeat under my ear, feel the rise and fall of his chest. He placed a light kiss on my head.

"I love you," he whispered against my hair.

"I love you too," I whispered back. We laid there for a few more minutes before the drowsiness took over and I fell asleep.

_**There! Chapter finished! Once again, kill finals and, I'll see you next time! **_

_**3,**_

_**zp.**_


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